The increased use of networks across the globe has been accompanied by an increase in attacks to those networks. The network attacks come in a variety of ways including denial of service (DOS) attacks. A DOS attack can cause devastating damage not only to the flow of data on the network, but to a company's reputation for allowing the attack to proceed unimpeded and ultimately to a company's bottom line finances. A DOS attack can be described as a malicious attacker generating interfering traffic with the intention to degrade, disrupt, or deny the service provided by the network to legitimate users.
The DOS attacks have been increasing along with the rise in network activity. Companies have responded by identifying packets from legitimate users and allowing those packets onto the network. However, when the number of users is large, it becomes unfeasible to analyze each packet using a list of users. Hardware solutions, such as content-addressable memory (CAM) based search engines, are also used to handle increased number of users. However, CAM hardware is expensive, consumes excess power, and generates extra heat.
Since DOS attacks have been increasing, it is important for companies to have a way to protect their networks from attacks. The DOS attacks take resources away from legitimate users which are wasted on the data packets from the attackers. DOS attacks not only waste network resources, but they also cause companies to lose money and goodwill from customers who use the company's network. Since DOS attacks are increasing, it is important for companies to have a system for defending networks from such attacks.